I took Dad to the doctor this morning. I called him before we left and he suggested we take his car. I told him we couldn't because it's not insured anymore. He flipped. I told him to stop yelling at me and ended the conversation. When I picked him up he started yelling at me again. He accused me of reporting him to the DMV and "starting this whole mess". I stopped the car and wasn't going to move until he stopped yelling. I told him the doctor was the one who reported him and he said, "Oh yeah, blame the doctor! JUST DRIVE!!!" He shut up and didn't say another word until we got to the VA. We didn't talk much during the whole visit. I think he knew he blew it.
When we were waiting he kept asking me why we were there. I explained several times that he needed to get all his meds up to date and he needed to have the doc look at his toe. When we went in to see her he started going off about his car. I had to keep explaining that he couldn't get insurance because he didn't have a license. He kept yelling that "they" can't keep him from owning a car. We went in circles with that one for a while. She asked about the anxiety medication that she had prescribed before Christmas. We never gave it to him because it had some nasty side effects and the problem went away on its own because the stresses of the Christmas season ended with the tree sales. He smirked and said, "Oh, there was no stress at Christmas!" (I can hear you all now. You're saying waWAWHAT??????) Dr. Griffin kept looking at me like she knew exactly what I was talking about.
After we left her office we went upstairs to the lab. Dad didn't have any current blood work and they needed it to renew his prescriptions. Then we came home, still not talking.
I was talking to David the junk guy the other day. He said that Dad again asked him if he knew anything about where his big trucks went. These trucks had been stored out in the junk yard and most of their essential working parts had been stolen. They were pretty much worthless. The pink slips were signed and turned over to David and he cut them up for scrap. We've told Dad this many, many times. Anyway, he asked David about them and David said he didn't know anything about it. If he had told Dad the truth he would have gone off. Dad said, "Well, my daughter must have given them to someone."
This is the pattern. Any time Dad doesn't have an answer for something he thinks I did it. I'm the one who reported him to the DMV, I'm the one who got rid of his trucks, I'm the one who told Ruth and Molly that he has AD (he did!), I'm the one who took all his medication (they were in his medicine cabinet). I hear this kind of thing over and over again.
I swear he's slipping again. Things were stable for a while but now it's pretty noticeable that he's not doing as well as he had been. There are some goofy times ahead.
5 comments:
We shall see. I wonder what's setting him off? Is it the AD or is there some issue that's getting to him?
We were too scared to give him those pills. The possible side effects were things like; Risperidone may cause drowsiness coupled with wild, uncontrollable leg spasms. Severe depression, extreme dry mouth, spontaneous loogie hawking, acidic toenail fungus and sudden urge to cross dress often occur in men over 70. Do not taunt Risperidone. People who use Risperidone for more than 3 weeks run the risk of developing a third nipple. Risperidone will make you feel like you've been cleaning an aquarium all afternoon. Risperidone will make you its bitch.
So, no.
Well, I'm saving it for his first violent outburst. If he ever hits me I'm buying him a muu-muu.
More specifically, Risperidone (in addition to increasing female hormone levels) will exacerbate his other age-related conditions such as diabetes and likelihood of stroke. I wonder if there's something less nasty that he can get through the VA.
I hate that there doesn't seem to be any middle ground in terms of meds. I very much hope he settles down again. Hopefully this is just a teeny bump in the road.
szdrvr: sized screwdriver
The car thing is a hot button issue for him. Most of the time he's pretty even. But we have noticed a slip.
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